Stick 'n pokes are tattoos at their most basic: ink, needle, skin. They take a bit longer, but the effort put in makes them particularly satisfying - and the supplies are small in number. On top of that, you can continue to work on them pretty much anywhere. With the right kind of ink and a clean, sterilized needle, and the proper dip and dab technique, you can give yourself a very real tattoo for the cost of materials.

Warning: The risk of blood-bourne infection is much higher when you're doing a tattoo at home. Sterile conditions, new needles, and proper care are essential. It's recommended that you get all tattoos at licensed parlors.

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Steps

Part 1 of 3: Getting Ready

1

Buy a home tattoo kit. Making a tattoo from old sewing needles is generally a bad idea, but kits are widely and cheaply available with all the materials you'll need to make your own tattoo. These generally include the right kind of ink, the right kind of needle, rubber gloves, and safety instructions, making them ideal for the first-time stick-and-poker.

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2

Use tattoo or India ink. India ink is carbon-based and interacts with your body naturally, making the chances of infection much less likely. Order some online or from a tattoo retailer. It's not expensive and is easy to obtain.

Using the ink from a pen or some other kind of ink is dangerous and not recommended. You'll end up with an infection and no tattoo to show for it if you use other ink.

3

Use a fine-pointed needle. The most appropriate needles for giving yourself a homemade tattoo are safety pins, which have a great little handle you can hold onto to while you work, or other small sewing needles.

Only use new, clean needles and make sure you sterilize them before you begin. Never reuse or share needles.

4

Get other necessary materials. Once you get started, you'll just need your ink and your needle, but the prep takes a few extra items. You'll need:

Fine-point pen

Lighter or candle

Teacup or other container for the ink

Cup of water

Rubbing alcohol

Shaving razor

A killer tattoo design

5

Shave the area to be tattooed with the razor. Before you give yourself the tattoo, you need to thoroughly shave the area of any little hairs. After washing the area with soap and water, shave the hair off in an area an inch larger than your tattoo will eventually be. Even if it's the back of your arm or your chest, run a razor over it quickly to remove tiny invisible hairs that'll get in the way and can cause ingrown hairs or infections during the process. Clean it up and stay safe.

After you shave, sterilize your skin with rubbing alcohol thoroughly. Dab it on with a cotton ball and make sure it's evaporated before continuing.

6

With the pen, mark out your design on your skin. Trace or draw your desired tattoo in the place you want it to go. You can have someone else do it for you if you want, but take the amount of time necessary to do it right. This is what you'll be working from, so it's as important as your eventual tattoo.

In general, stick 'n pokes work much better with simple and tiny tattoos. If you want to get your sick tattoo of Hendrix jamming on the rings of Saturn with Krishna and a snow leopard, you probably need to head to the shop to get it. A tiny "Dad" on your wrist? Now we're talking.

After adding the design, sterilize the area to be tattooed again with a little more rubbing alcohol. This may smear the Sharpie some, but not enough to erase it entirely.[1]

7

Pour some India ink into a small, sterile dish of some kind. A clean teacup or other small container would be perfectly fine. Assemble your area with your ink, your cup of water, and anything else you'll need.

If you want to listen to music or have something to drink on while you're working, get it now. The process can take a long time (several hours for a relatively small tattoo) so it's best to get comfortable.

8

Sterilize the needle. The best way to sterilize the needle before using it is with flame. Hold the needle over the flame of a candle or a lighter until it glows. Make sure you hold the other end with a cloth, or you'll burn your fingertips.

It's also possible to sterilize with boiling water, but it's less common and somewhat more difficult to negotiate. Stick with flame, unless you've got a compelling reason not to.

Part 2 of 3: Starting Your Tattoo

1

Dip the tip of the needle into the ink, and push it into your skin. It'll leave a small dot. Continue doing this until your design is complete. There may be some blood, and that's okay-- but it should be very little blood.

Don't push the needle in too far. All the ink needs to do is get under the initial layer of skin, not deep enough to puncture the layer of fat. This can only be done by feel, which is why you should do it yourself and not let anyone else do it for you. If there is considerable blood, you're going too far.

2

Start working your way along the lines. Making little punctures with the inky needle, stay inside the line of the tattoo design you've drawn, filling it in with tiny punctures.

After a few pokes, take a cotton swab with a very tiny amount of rubbing alcohol and run it over the area to wash away the extra ink and keep the skin clean.[2]

Some homemade-tattoers choose to also smear some extra ink over the tiny punctures to make the tattoo darker, and will do this after every few punctures. If you want to do this, use a Q-Tip or cotton swap and use only a very tiny amount and wipe it back off with the alcohol swab.

3

Take a break. The small marks each needle-point leaves in your skin will expand a very small amount, hopefully eliminating all spaces in between, but you'll probably need to do some touch-up work when the swelling goes down. Using this method, it's difficult to get a really smooth line without letting your skin settle down a bit and seeing where you need to fill in. For that reason, it helps to finish the tattoo over a few sessions. You may have to go back through and "touch up" your design.

You might try and get a rough light outline of the tattoo done on your first sitting, then wait a while and let your skin stop swelling before filling in the lines more darkly.

4

When you're finished, clean the area. Throw away whatever India ink is left in the dish, because it's no longer sterile, and do the same with the needles you've used. Even if you're going to do another session shortly, use a new needle.

Apply a thin layer of A & D or bacitracin to the area. It's important to add a very thin layer, just enough to make the skin look shiny. Don't glob it on or you'll clog the pores and won't promote healing.

Avoid petroleum-based lubricants or Vaseline, which are too thick and have a tendency to clog the pores around the area. Likewise, some tattoo artists feel that antibiotic ointments will draw the ink out, and feel the need to avoid those kinds of creams.

2

Cover your tattoo with a bandage. It's usually best to use a thick ABD wound dressing that lets the tattoo breathe and won't keep the skin too damp. Generally, you should keep your bandage on for at least a couple hours.

To be on the safe side, keep it covered for at least 12 hours, or maybe more depending on the size of the tattoo. After you've covered it, remove the bandage gently and continue caring for your new ink.

3

Wash the area gently with warm water and non-scented soap 3-5 times a day. Gently use warm water and your hand to clean the area with a small amount of liquid antibacterial soap. Don't soak the tattoo, and don't run it directly under warm water. Just clean it gently and then let it dry thoroughly, for 20 minutes to an hour. Admire your work and take note of any points that could use some touching up.

Avoid picking at the tattoo, poking at it, or using a textured scrubber, like a loofah, on the surface.

4

Apply a thin layer of ointment after each washing for 3-5 days. For the first several days after your initial tattooing, keep up this basic process of washing, drying, and applying a thin layer of ointment. During that period of time, keep a close eye on the work and make sure the redness is subsiding, rather than getting worse, and that the wound seems to be healing. If not, get it checked out by a tattoo artist or doctor for advice.

When your tattoo starts peeling, you can usually stop applying ointment every time you wash it and switch to an unscented moisturizer.

5

Switch to unscented moisturizer. When your tattoo starts peeling, you can loosen up your routine somewhat. While there still might be some tenderness around the area, you can start bathing normally and moisturizing the area with a basic unscented moisturizer. This helps to keep the skin healthy and healing.

Avoid moisturizers and lotions with weird additions, like colorant or scents, which can cause irritations to the area. Go basic and stay on the safe side.

6

Stay out of the sun and wear loose-fitting clothing. Make sure that you keep the area covered loosely when you're outside for the first several weeks of your healing process, but avoid tight-fitting clothing, which can keep sweat tight to the area and cause irritation.

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Tips

Colored ink is often not carbon-based, so stick with black.

Your tattoo will scab, and you'll lose some ink during that process. This is why you may need to touch up a few times before you're satisfied. This is a process that takes patience and diligence, and great attention to detail.

Stick-and-poke tattoos work best if they're very small and very simple.

After the tattoo is healed, you can moisturize it with an unscented lotion.

Wash your tattoo with salt-water twice a day for a month.

Warnings

Giving yourself a tattoo puts you at risk for all sorts of blood-bourne pathogens and other infections. Even in the most sterile home environments, it's a risky behavior that's not recommended. If you want to get a tattoo, visit a licensed tattoo parlor and get it done by a professional.